The Global Information Grid (GIG) is an attempt to integrate all information systems, services and applications in the department of Defense into one seamless network. One architectural approach that has been proposed for constructing the GIG is a black core network.
The promise of the black core network has eluded tactical network designers for years. Stymied by the lack of infrastructure support, immature technology and politics, many initiatives have witnessed limited success or have failed outright. A key component in the realization of a black core network is an encryptor such as the High Assurance Internet Protocol Encryptor (HAIPE). A HAIPE device typically serves as a secure gateway which, when paired with another HAIPE device, allows two enclaves to exchange data over an untrusted or lower-classification network. It is customary to refer to the user networks that operate within each enclave as plaintext (PT) or red networks, while a black network is one that transports encrypted traffic, or black traffic. Black networks are also known as Ciphertext (CT) networks. Although existing HAIPE devices have been used successfully to bulk encrypt data on a point-to-point basis, to date they lacked the ability to fully support a Black Core network.
Fault tolerance is an issue in pure black core networks. Because of that, successful black core networks to date have been limited to networks of networks based on striping techniques. One such striping approach is described by Tarr et al. in “Defining the GIG Core”, http://iac.dtic.mil/csiac/download/Vol11_No2.pdf. Striped cores, however, are more complicated, driving up the cost of the network, increasing latency, increasing vulnerability to eavesdropping and decreasing reliability.
High Availability for server applications is often achieved through the use of redundant components including power supplies, memory (hard drives) and network interfaces. In the event of a single component failure, the redundant component takes over. Of the aforementioned components, the server's network interfaces often require additional support inside and outside of the server to enable a reliable failover mechanism. To date, the GIG remains a network of networks using IPsec striping techniques. The IPSec devices do not possess the capabilities to facilitate end-to-end rapid failover/recovery. What is needed are network link failover mechanisms for servers connected to black core networks.